In recent years, flat-panel display devices have been vigorously developed. By virtue of such advantageous features as light weight, small thickness and low power consumption, special attention has been paid to liquid crystal display devices among others. In particular, in active matrix liquid crystal display devices in which switching elements are incorporated in respective pixels, attention is paid to the configuration which makes use of a lateral electric field (including a fringe electric field), such as an IPS (In-Plane Switching) mode or an FFS (Fringe Field Switching) mode. Such a liquid crystal display device of the lateral electric field mode includes pixel electrodes and a counter-electrode, which are formed on an array substrate, and liquid crystal molecules are switched by a lateral electric field which is substantially parallel to a major surface of the array substrate.
On the other hand, there has been proposed a technique of switching liquid crystal molecules by producing a lateral electric field or an oblique electric field between pixel electrodes formed on the array substrate and a counter-electrode formed on the counter-substrate.
The power consumption of the liquid crystal display device increases as the screen size becomes larger. This is a factor of limiting the time of use, for example, when the liquid crystal display device is mounted on a portable electronic apparatus.